With the advent of light emitting diodes (LEDs), compact, high flux illuminating devices became available. These illuminating devices have traditionally been constructed with two complementary shell components encasing an LED and a battery with an aperture in one component for a finger-activated button. Owing to the simple nature of these "clamshell" devices, sonic welding or adhesives are used to permanently seal the illuminating device. Upon expending the battery or damage to a device component, such illuminating devices are discarded thereby adding to the consumer waste stream.
There exists growing appreciation for the need to minimize waste streams and, in particular, waste streams such as batteries that over time may leak acids or toxic metals. Further, a device with interchangeable and replaceable components justifies further engineering to provide a more reliable and adaptable illuminating device.
Owing to the disposable mind-set invoked to design prior art illuminating devices, little attention has been paid to creating an illuminating device with multiple operating modes. Thus, there exists a need for a miniature LED flashlight having replaceable component parts.